An estimated 20 per cent of Canadians regularly use natural remedies because they believe they are safer than man-made pharmaceuticals, according to David Bailey, a clinical pharmacologist at the University of Western Ontario.

An estimated 20 per cent of Canadians regularly use natural remedies because they believe they are safer than man-made pharmaceuticals, according to David Bailey, a clinical pharmacologist at the University of Western Ontario.

"That is simply not true," he says. "Many of our most potent medications and toxic substances are derived from plants."

Health Canada tries to keep up with new products through its Natural Health Products Directorate. Products that meet the agency's criteria for safety, efficacy and quality get a licence and an eight-digit Natural Product Number. All 50,000 natural health products for sale in Canada must have an NPN by 2010.

But as of April 20, only 3,203 natural health products had been licensed by Health Canada, said a spokesperson.

Many of these are likely single-ingredient products and not multiple-ingredient weight-loss supplements, says Heather Boon, associate professor of pharmacy at the University of Toronto and an expert in natural health products.

Boon advises consumers to check with their pharmacist before buying any herbal supplement without an NPN, especially if they take multiple herbs or prescription medications.

But critics say even if a weight-loss supplement has an NPN, it doesn't necessarily mean that it works or is safe. The more specific a product's health claim, the more rigorous data Health Canada requires to approve it, says Joel Lexchin, a health policy expert at York University. If, for example, a company claims its product "leads to weight-loss," it likely has to submit a large amount of data, including clinical trials, to prove it is safe and effective. But if it claims a product "helps maintain a healthy body weight," it only has to provide historical evidence.

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